Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I thought about sperm banking before I started HRT but even after some long thought I couldn't decide if I wanted to do it or not. I don't want kids but I suppose my future-self could think otherwise. I've been on hormones for almost 6 months now and it'd be like torture to get off hormones! What should I do? I'm also mostly attracted to women so I could end up in a relationship with a woman in the future...

If you want to bank sperm, you will have to go off HRT.  A visit to a sperm bank will tell you your count each time you donate fluid.  Keep going until they get a satisfactory result.  Or you can decide to save your money and not bank sperm.

I know but that doesn't help me stop being indecisive.

The longer you are on HRT, the greater the possibility of chemical castration.  You should figure out what you want to do soon otherwise lose any chance of being able to bank sperm.

Is there any information you need that will aide you in your decision?  Do you need someone to tell you just go ahead and do it, or to not  do it?

FYI, I decided that I was set in not having any child brought into this world that was genetically derived from my genes and I remain steadfast in that decision.  I had SRS with no sperm banking and do not regret it.

I need someone to hold my hand, hug me, and light the path

No one can really tell you what to do. This is one of the things that should have been thought out (fully) before going on hormones as it's entirely possible you can't do it now; let me also make it clear that it's also possible you still can.

If you have a strong urge or feeling that you would want children of your own genetic material then banking it is the obvious route to take.
If you don't then it's a lesser problem.

You can still have kids even if they aren't biologically "yours".

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Personally, I think child-birth is incredibly selfish. It's the ultimate act of selfishness because you're forcing life onto another who may or may not want it, and all the problems they will ever encounter, just for your own pleasure of having kids. [As a note: I'm not discussing this point as to avoid thread derailment, drama, and issues in general. Instead of it being a valid philosophical discussion, it would just be pointless and irrational scolding]
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Regardless of my opinion, even if you can't have kids with your genetic code, you can always adopt. Not only does this still allow you to have a family and raise kids, you're helping them an incredible amount by giving them a caring (I hope) home that they may not otherwise have. In the end, the only thing that's different is the fact that you never "made" them, which isn't really that important other than for ego's sake.

Food for thought, everyone forgets about adoption.

Edit: Noticed a typo

My view is that banking your sperm doesn't automatically mean you're going to use it for anything. It gives you an option. Maybe it's better to do it and if you don't use it down the road then so be it, you haven't lost anything... rather than not doing it and having regrets later on. No one can say for sure what the future will hold, and at the very least it gives you piece of mind and one less thing to stress over, knowing it's there if you ever need it. :)

I had been on antiandrogens for about a year when I realized I wasn't getting better and needed to add E to the mix. At that point I decided to bank sperm.

I went three times, and each time it costs about $350 or so to make a deposit. If you have good insurance, or if it slips under the radar sometimes they will pay for it, but it's a complete toss up. In my case I lucked out. I fully expected to pay full price and lo and behold my insurance paid the bill. I don't know how that worked, but I'm staying quiet.

Now I just have to pay $200 a year to keep them frozen.

For what it's worth I had both low count, and lo motility. It will be hard for someone to get pregnant using my sperm via IUI, but IVF is a possibility. Still, I have enough for 4 IUI attempts I believe. It was a strange experience, I'm not sure I'll keep the sperm forever, but at least it's there for now.

Neither me nor my wife plan on having biological children, but I realized one day that if my wife really wanted to have a child I would probably try and have one with her. (I do like kids, but we just always thought we would adopt). That though, and the realization that my wife and I might separate, made me realize I also would want to provide a potential partner in the future with that same option should they choose and I was still open to it. So I banked.

Going off antiandrogens for 6 weeks sucked though.

My mom had asked me about this before I got on hormones, banking sperm, just in case one day I may want to have kids. Sure I would love to have children, but in a way that is impossible, as a woman, to be able to give birth myself (I birthed a kidney stone once, but that's not the same), not by way of something that would remind me of the male parts that I wanted to get rid of, didn't want to have anything to do with it to begin with, never mind using it to bring life into the world that could end up as screwed up as me, those were kinda my thoughts then. And those thoughts still kinda hold the same, except I don't think of myself really as screwed up, I came out a little wrong (female soul in a male body), but I'm a good person and would have been a very loving mother, certainly would've given me some meaning and direction in my life that wasn't just selfish longings of being whole.